Pin-guard.



I. G. WOODWARD.

BIN GUARD.

APPLIUATION FILED OCT; 24, 1910.

1,044,963, Patented Nov. 19, 1912.

IRVING C. WOODWARD, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PIN- GUARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 19, 1912.

Application filed October 24, 1910. Serial No. 588,809.

b all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IRVING C. VVoonwARD, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Chicago, countyof Cook, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pin-Guards, of which the following is a specification.

The main objects of this invention are to provide an improved form of pin guard particularly adapted for securing a scarf pin against theft or accidental disengagement from the scarf; and to provide an improved form of guard of this character which is efficient and inexpensive to manufacture, and which may be readily adjusted by the user to fit any desired size of pin.

A specific construction embodying this in vention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation showing the pin guard in position upon a scarf pm, the dotted lines indicating the efieot upon the guard of an upward pull upon the pin, when upward movement of the guard is resisted by pressure on the upper part of the guard, as would be the case if the part of the pin above the guard extended through a scarf. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the pin guard, the dotted line being at right angles to the plane of the lower coil and indicating the axis thereof.

In the construction shown in the drawings, the guard is formed of wire bent at 1, a point intermediate of its ends, so as to be of substantially V-shape, with diverging parts 2 and 3. Each of said parts is looped or coiled upon itself near its end, and the coil 4 is nearer to the bend 1 than the coil 5, so that in effect, the part 2 is shorter than the part 3. The free end of the part 2 is extended beyond the coil 4 to provide a convenient handle or finger hold 6 for removing the guard from the pin 7.

The loop or convolution of the coil 4 is of such size that it provides an opening of slightly larger diameter than the pin 7, for which it is intended, so that it will slide along the pin freely when the plane of the coil is substantially at right angles to the pin, but will grip the pin when the plane of the coil 4 is inclined to the pin, as in Fig. 1. In bending the coil, the end 6 should preferably pass below the part 2, so that the plane of the coil 4 will be at a greater angle to the pin than the part 2.

The coil 5 in the long part 3 is preferably of considerably larger diameter than the coil 4, and is not intended to grip the pin in any position of the guard. The function of the coil 5 is to provide a shoulder at the end of the part 3, which bears against the side of the pin for forcing the coil 4 into its gripping position, and also to guide the .part 3 and prevent its displacement from the pin. In order to insure free sliding of the coil 5 along the pin, its plane should be approximately at right angles to the pin, and for this reason, the adjacent end of the wire passes above the part 3,

In the manufacture of these guards, the coil 4 is made of such diameter as to loosely fit the smallest diameter of pin with which it is likely to be used, and if a user wishes to adjust the guard to suit a size of pm which is too large to enter the coils 4, all that is necessary for him to do is to push the pin through the coil in an axial direction, as represented by the dotted line in Fig. 2, and slide the coil back and forth along the pin until it will have assumed such permanent size that it will slidingly fit the pm.

In operation, after the pin has been passed through the material of the scarf, the loop 5 of the long part 3 of the guard is passed over the point of the pin, and slipped upward in advance of the loop 4, as in Fig. 1. As the axes of the loops 4 and 5 are not in line, as indicated in Fig. 2, the part 3 will bear against the pin and force the part 2 downward so that it tilts at an angle to the pin and holds the loop 4 in position to securely grip the pin. By pulling upward on the loop 5, the ends of the parts 2 and 3 are sprung apart, so that the guard slides freely in an upward direction. Similarly, by pulling downward on the handle or finger hold 6, the grip of the guard is similarly released, and the guard may be freely slid downward and withdrawn from the pin. If, however, when the guard is in position on the pin, a downward pressure is exerted against the coil 5, the grip of the coil 4 will be increased, since its friction prevents it from sliding, and the pressure on the loop 5 causes the wire to spring to a position as indicated by dotted lines. The loop 5 is lar e enough to permit free tilting of the pin and there is therefore no difficulty in inserting the point of the pin through the loop 4 when the guard is being applied to the pin. The resilient structure of the guard insures that the loop at is normally urged to its gripping position. To increase the grip of the guard it is merely necessary to bend the Wire so as to reduce the normal angle between the parts 2 and 8 When removed from the pin.

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention is herein shown and described it will be understood that numerous details of the construction shown may be altered or omitted without departing from the spirit of this invention, as defined by the following claim.

I claim A pin guard, comprising a piece of resilient wire bent to provide coils adjacent to its ends for receiving the pin and being bent upon itself between said coils to normally hold said coils out of axial alinement, Where ing readily adjustable to suit pins of diflerent diameters, and the other coil being of larger diameter and being free to slide on the pin when the guard is in position thereon.

Signed. at Chicago this 22nd day of October, 1910.

IRVING C. WOODVVARD.

lVitnesses:

EUGENE A. RU MLER, EDWIN PHELPS.

I Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

